


Stardust Quality

by AstridMyrna, TinCanTelephone



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Caretaking, Cats, F/M, Influenza, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sick Character, Some Cursing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, oh my god they were neighbors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2019-08-21 17:48:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16581167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstridMyrna/pseuds/AstridMyrna, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinCanTelephone/pseuds/TinCanTelephone
Summary: It was just another typical day until Jyn received a text from her new neighbor Cassian, saying that her cat Stardust has come to visit him. It all goes downhill from there.





	1. The Meet-Cute

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TinCanTelephone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinCanTelephone/gifts).



                                                                

> _Unknown_
> 
> Hi I got this number from your cat Stardust. I just want to make sure he is not lost only visiting. He is currently playing in my front yard.

“Gotta be fucking kidding me,” Jyn grumbled.

She had just put the keys in the ignition, exhausted from the longest week of the year and looking forward to a bottle of wine and petting her cat on her belly, but now it looked like her cat was out on the prowl and giving her number to just anyone. 

Actually, was this Stardust? That cat only allowed Jyn to pet her, and would have swiped and hissed at anyone who would try to get close to her neck to read her tags.

As if the unknown texter read her mind, the phone glowed again with a picture of her fluffy white cat with one blue eye and one yellow eye, stretching out on a sunspot on the verdant lawn, looking absolutely pleased as punch with herself.  

> _Me_
> 
> Yup, that’s her. She’s visiting but I’m off work so I can pick her up now. What was your address?

Luckily Cassian (the name of her cat’s new best friend) was only a few doors down, but Jyn still stopped by her place first after a forty-five minute drive for some treats and the cat carrier because she was in no mood to carry Stardust’s fat butt all the way home. She walked down to his house, which was as small and old as the other houses on the block, with a little bit of lawn in the front. However, there was no cat, and there was no Cassian. 

Suspicious now, Jyn spied through the flat window of the living room. She could see a man in his pajamas, even though it was well after four. His head nodded back as he slept on the couch with Stardust curled up in his lap, her bi-colored eyes observing the boxes of tissues and medicine on the coffee table that were just begging to be swiped off.  The man coughed, and Stardust stretched out so her tiny bean toes would press against his throat.

The man, she guessed by now, had to be Cassian. Even with the beard overgrowth and the dark shadows under his eyes and the shiny red skin under his nose, he still had a nice face. When did he move in, and how was she not aware of the new hot neighbor?

Cassian yawned, one eye peeping open. She ducked her head under the window and texted him: 

> _Me_
> 
> Hey I’m here. Where are you and the fluffball at?

Jyn peek over the window sill to see what he was doing, and to her great relief he was up and turned away from the window. 

>   _Cassian_
> 
> She decided to come inside, sorry. But I have her and I’ll walk out with her.

Jyn kept her phone up and walked up to the front door. Cassian, cinching a gray blanket over his shoulders. He stumbled when Stardust squeezed between his ankles and meowed as she pressed so hard against his legs that she tip-toed around him. But instead of getting upset he just smiled quietly to himself before looking at Jyn with his dark brown eyes.

“Hi, you must be Jyn. I’d shake your hand but I’m a bit sick,” he said, his voice cutting out just as he turned away and coughed.

“Mrow, mrow,” Stardust purred, staring up at him until he stroked her forehead with his knuckle.

“Stardust doesn’t seem to mind,” Jyn chuckled. “I’m kind of surprised she likes you so much. She usually doesn’t trust anyone.”

He shrugged, then leaned over and coughed again. “Maybe she knew I wouldn’t move at all when she jumped in my lap.”

Jyn kneeled down and scratched the back of Stardust’s neck. “Is that it, you silly cat? Do you just like to boss sick guys around?”

Stardust chuffed in reply. Jyn lured her in her box with a handful of treats, then thanked Cassian again and wished him well. She walked just a little slower as she passed his living room window, where he settled himself back on the couch again. As Jyn walked home, she couldn’t fight off the smile that pulled up on her face. Sure, he was sick, but he was cute, and he was nice to Stardust, and Stardust adored him, which had to mean something.

As soon as she returned home, she texted him.

 

 

> _Me_
> 
> Hey thanks again for taking care of Stardust. Hope she wasn’t too much trouble!

She unlocked the carrier and Stardust strutted out, still licking her chops clean after her feast of treats. Jyn’s phone pinged again. 

 

 

>   _Cassian_
> 
> No trouble at all. BTW, is Stardust named after Ziggy Stardust?

That sealed it. Jyn set down her phone and picked up her cat so she could look at her right in her two-toned eyes.

“You have my permission to go over there as many times as you want. If you get me a date with him, then I’ll give you a salmon fillet. Deal?”

Stardust silenced her with a paw on her lips. “Mrow."


	2. An Unexpected Visitor

Cassian became the type of man to go to work even when he was dead-on-his-feet sick after a lot of jobs that wouldn’t allow him to take off either because he couldn’t afford it or he risked losing his job. He figured out a cocktail of over the counter drugs, vitamins, and coffee to keep him going all day long until he got home and blacked out. So when he started the second week at his new, actually full-time with benefits job feeling death creep up on him with a sore throat and a runny nose, he braced himself with two cups of coffee and some Dayquil. He felt more awake, but his bones felt like they were being eaten from the inside out and it was too damn cold in the office.

“You sick?” Kay, his cubicle neighbor asked him.

“It’s fine,” Cassian mumbled as he re-read his report for the third time.

The tall and lanky white man scowled. “You know you can just take off? That’s what sick pay is for.”

Cassian sniffled. “I know, but--”

“But you’re going to get everyone sick if you stay here. Just tell Malbus or Chirrut, they’ll understand.”

“It’s my second week here.”

“ _They’ll understand_. They started the whole ‘stay home when you’re sick’ policy when half of finance was puking their guts because somebody came in with the flu.”

“Who has the flu?” said the gruffer of the two managers, Malbus, as he passed by Cassian’s cubicle.

Cassian was sent home early with strict instructions to call in if he still wasn’t feeling well the next day. Half of him was grateful on the car ride home, the other half nursed his hurt pride over being sent home. Either way he was absolutely miserable when he returned home and changed in his pajamas by noon. 

It really was one of the worst Mondays he experienced. He slept for three hours until he coughed up the snot that had been building up in his nasal cavities. As he staggered to the kitchen to heat up some salt water to gargle he saw a flash of white in his front yard. He went to the window and discovered that it was a beautiful white cat pouncing on something hidden in the grass. It wore a shiny blue collar with a metal circle tag that peeked out from under its long fur coat. Whoever owned the cat would be missing it soon.

After fetching a can of tuna, he went outside and sat on his front step to hold a spoonful of fish out towards it. The cat stared at him with its striking blue and yellow eyes, sniffing the air with its pale pink nose. He clicked his tongue softly to it and swallowed a cough that made his eyes water. After a moment the cat trotted over but, to his surprise, sniffed his fingers first. Its eyes were wide and unblinking as its velvet nose kissed his thumb, his wrist, and his forearm before it licked at the tuna. When it finished, it closed its eyes as it ran its cheek across his knuckles.

“You are very sweet,” he said, his fingers scratching down its neck until he reached its tag. “Now who do you belong to?”

He didn’t know how much he needed Stardust until she snuck in his house and jumped on his lap after he texted her owner, Jyn, about her cat. Stardust purred as she kneaded her paws in the front of his flannel pajamas, her feather-duster tail curling over his knees. Just petting her silky fur made him feel lessy crummy on a pretty crappy day, and he fell asleep without knowing it.

He was a little sad to see Stardust leave, but he was glad to meet his neighbor, Jyn. Her eyes were a pretty sea-glass green and he liked the lilt in her voice. He could tell by the loose hairs in her bun and the wrinkles in her light blue blouse under her unbuttoned blazer that she was tired from a day even longer than his. Maybe during the weekend, when he wasn’t sick and she was home from work they could hang out, but he was too shy to ask her on his doorstep or through text when he correctly guessed the origins of Stardust’s name.

The next morning came, and he called in because he still felt like hogshit. He didn’t get out of bed until eleven in the morning. He stumbled into the kitchen to put something in his stomach. After drinking some orange juice and nibbling on a piece of toast, he heard a gentle scratching at his door. His throbbing head that made the floor warp under his feet said to ignore it, but the hardwired habit to check out strange sounds forced him to see what was making that noise. He checked the peephole and saw nothing, so he opened the door and Stardust zipped inside.

 

> _Me_
> 
> Guess who came over for lunch:

He sent Jyn a picture of Stardust perched on his loosely-folded pile of blankets, her eyes closed with contentment.

 

> _Jyn_
> 
> Omg
> 
> I’m so sorry.
> 
> I don’t get off work until 5 today fuck
> 
> _Me_
> 
> I can watch her
> 
> Today’s another sick day
> 
> _Jyn_
> 
> Really?? If you can that would be great
> 
> Thank you so much

“Guess you’re staying with me for a few hours,” Cassian said, offering his hand for her sniff it.

She rubbed her jaw against his fingers hard enough for her teeth to show. He scratched at the ruff of her neck, then moved her down at the floor so he could unfold his blankets. Impatient, she jumped on the arm of his couch and waited for him to lie down, pouncing on his feet as soon as he covered them. He grabbed a tissue from the coffee table and blew his nose as she stalked up to his chest. Her purr vibrated down to his core, the mucous in his lungs broken up by the pressure of her kneading paws. The used tissue fell out of his hand and onto the floor, but he was too lazy to pick it up.

Cassian woke up with his forehead pressing against the couch cushion and Stardust brushing his hairline with her raspy tongue. He tried to lift his head but Stardust placed a paw on his cheek, so he lowered his head back in his pillow. He wasn’t dizzy anymore, which was a plus. He needed to pee, but he could hold it until Stardust finished grooming him. He had never owned a cat before, although there were plenty of strays where he grew up. A couple of them were friendly like Stardust, while a few others required a lot of patience and treats before he could pet them on the head with only a 50/50 chance of being swiped at. Maybe when he had more time to settle in, he’d adopt a cat of his own and it could keep him company when he was sick.

Someone knocked loudly on the door and said, “Cassian? It’s me, Jyn.”

Cassian jerked upright, which made him dizzy again. The cat pooled in his lap before jumping lightly on the nightstand table. He staggered over to the front door, now _really_ needing to pee, but bit his lip and held it as he opened the door.

“Sorr’, jus’ woke up,” he mumbled, eyes squinting from the raw daylight. “Comin. Bafroom.”

After bolting to the bathroom to relieve himself, he walked back to find Jyn holding up a purple-stained blanket and Stardust perched on the edge of the coffee table.

“I’m really sorry, my cat knocked your medicine on your blankets, and it looks like she got cat hair on everything,” she grumbled, but then her eyes widened when she finally looked up at him. “Hey, you okay?”

His arm gripping the back of his couch the only thing that stopped him from crumbling onto the floor, he only shook his head. The floor swayed under him and he wasn’t sure if he was standing still anymore. Jyn offered her hand and he clutched it, not sure if the apologies for his sweaty, grimy hand were spoken or stayed in his head. She helped him lay down on the couch, which should have helped but now he felt like he was swinging from a hammock that never slowed down. He swung and swung until he felt the cold rim of a glass against his lips, and he opened his mouth to sip the cool water that stung his sore, scorched throat.

After a few sips, a fog over his ears cleared just long enough  to hear that she would be washing his blankets. He nodded off, hearing Stardust yowl in protest.

When he woke up, the blinds were down on his living room window and his coffee table dusted and lined up with a new bottle of cough syrup, tissues, a couple of glasses of water, and his phone with the house key on top. He shifted under the lavender-scent of his freshly washed blankets, making the cold pack on his forehead slip off, and drank half of one of the glasses of water before he grabbed the phone from the table.

 

> _Jyn_
> 
> Hey! Thanks again for watching Stardust. I washed your blankets and got you some new medicine to make up for the mess she made, but I got an ice pack too because you were feeling really hot. I left some water for you too if you needed it. I also locked the bottom lock when I left. Can you let me know when you get this text please? I know it’s none of my business but you were looking really sick so if you need someone to take you to the hospital, let me know. Thanks again and sorry for the trouble Stardust caused!

He smiled and texted back with heavy fingers.

 

> _Me_
> 
> Having Stardust was nice, no need to apologize. I think a cat’s purr is supposed to be healing? I’m not sure. Thank you for everything you’ve done to help me. The water and ice pack are helping. No need for hospital.

He got up to pee again and then locked the deadbolt. He could sleep in his own bed, but he wanted something cozier to sleep in that night. He returned to his couch, slapped the ice pack back on his head, and pulled the blankets over him, but couldn’t tuck himself in quite as comfortably as Jyn had.


	3. A Little TLC

Jyn stared at her phone with the picture Cassian sent her of Stardust perched on a pile of blankets, her white ruff slightly puffed out and looking like the queen she believed herself to be. Jyn had expected Stardust to visit Cassian again, but not quite this soon. It was really lucky that he was fine with watching her for a few hours while he was sick. She managed to leave work a little early that day and prayed all during the drive to Cassian’s place that Stardust didn’t piss on his rug because of a lack of litter boxes in his house. 

Knowing now that he’d probably be a little slow going, she texted him about a mile away from the house, a half mile, and right when she parked in the street. He didn’t answer any of them so, assuming that he was out cold in a drug-induced sleep, knocked as hard as she could on the front door. 

When he opened it, she was smacked in the face by the the stale and slightly sour smell of someone who was sick. She didn’t even catch what Cassian rambled before he staggered to the back of the house like a zombie, leaving the door wide open for her. Jyn entered the house, leaving the door open so it could air out while she was there. 

_ Plunk. _

Jyn looked over at Stardust, who knocked a tissue box off of the table and now pawed at an open bottle of cough syrup.

“Stardust!”

The cat froze and looked up at her with wide, unblinking eyes, paw still on the cough syrup. 

“Don’t you dare,” Jyn warned.

Stardust winked her yellow eye, looked down at the bottle, and knocked it off the table. The cat leapt back on the couch when Jyn lunged for the gray blanket it fell on, but she was too late: every drop of the remaining purple syrup had splattered on the blanket. 

“Really, Star?” Jyn whined as she examined the blanket.

The cat leapt back on the table and sat at the edge nearest Jyn, stretching her neck so she smell the cloyingly-sweet syrup. When she heard Cassian shuffling back to the living room, she said, “I’m really sorry, my cat knocked your medicine on your blankets, and it looks like she got cat hair on everything.”

She turned her head to him and he looked like he was about to pass out. His face pale and his eyes glassy, Cassian clung onto the back of the couch like it was the only buoy in a raging sea. 

“Hey, you okay?” she asked and felt  _ so _ dumb for asking it.

He shook his head no, which made his body sway. Jyn dropped the blanket and took his trembling hand. She braced his shoulders with her free arm and lead him to the front of the couch. His knees buckled when she tried to turn him around, but she caught him before he could break his face on the coffee table. Once she got him sitting, she eased him to lie down sitting-up the couch, his head leaning back on the worn, oversized green throw pillow. She pressed a free hand on his forehead before she could stop herself. His skin was hot and a little sticky, but she couldn’t feel any sweat. Her gaze fell down to his chapped lips. Clearly dehydrated, it was no wonder he looked like walking death.

She should really leave him to sleep, but her cat wrecked his blankets and his lips looked so dry--she tore her eyes away from them as she headed for the kitchen. He was a sick man, for fuck’s sake, a man that she barely even knew. She found a glass and filled it with cold water from the tap, then dabbed a little water on her flushed cheeks.

Stardust draped herself over his legs when she returned with the water. She gently patted his cheek until he stirred.

“Hey, you really need to drink some water.” 

His eyes slitted open and she pressed the rim of the glass against his bottom lip, angling it so he could sip on the water without choking on it. She lowered it after a sip, watching his face flinch as he swallowed, then lifted the glass again. During one of these pauses she looked at the state of his blankets piled on the floor, his gray one sticky with spilled cough syrup and all of them fuzzy with cat hair as if Stardust made sure to rub on every single one when no one was looking.

By the time he finished off a quarter of the water, she set the glass down on the table and said, “I’m going to take Stardust home now, but I’ll go wash your blankets and get you some new medicine. Can I borrow your key?”

He nodded, his eyes slipping closed again, and pointed a floppy hand towards the door before it fell off the couch. Jyn folded his arm over his belly, walked to the mosaic key rack by the door and plucked the sole bronze key hanging off one of the three hooks. After baiting Stardust with more treats in her carrier, she let the cat yowl all the way home and even at home, where Jyn checked all the doors and windows to make sure there was no possible way she could escape.

“I appreciate your efforts, Stardust,” Jyn said when she finally released her, then called after her when she raced to the bathroom, “but you shouldn’t bother him again so soon. He’s really sick, and he’ll get suspicious if you go over too often.”

Jyn bundled up the blankets and put them in the washer downstairs before grabbing her keys to drive over to the drug store, but she checked the bathroom to make sure that Stardust was still in the house doing her business before she left. 

***

“Hey, I’m back.”

Cassian didn’t answer, as he was dead asleep. His arm hung over the couch again, pulling half his body in the same direction. She plopped the blankets on the chair and gently pushed him back into the couch until there was no danger of him falling out of it. He didn’t stir, not even when she tucked him in with the freshly washed blankets. Her fingers grazed his still unbearably hot forehead, and she was glad that she brought over her cold compress she always kept in the freezer. Cassian moaned a little when she placed it on his forehead, but he still didn’t wake up.

Cleaning up his coffee table and assembling the tissues, cold medicine, and water glasses barely helped settle the uneasy feeling in her stomach when she looked at him. She pressed the back of her hand on his flushed cheek, debating on whether or not she should call the hospital. But she didn’t know how long he had been sick and, _ most importantly _ , didn’t even know him, so she decided to wait. 

Her sight fell to his lips again. They were still dry, but not as bad as before. Hopefully he’d drink the water she left for him when he woke up.

* * *

 

Cassian hoped that by the next morning, he would have finally slept off his illness. Instead, he woke up to the worst of it. He had absolutely no idea what time it was, only that is was bright enough for the sun to filter through the blinds in a dull gray haze. His throat was scratchy and dry from sleeping with his mouth hanging open, but when he drank the last of his water his felt the weight of his very full bladder.

He knew he needed to get up  _ right now _ or he’d piss on the blankets Jyn had just washed. He needed to, but couldn’t scrape up the energy for it yet, so he called in sick instead. Of course, they had already figured since it was nearly noon and he hadn’t answered their calls, and told him to take the rest of the week off to recover from what was clearly the flu. Cassian thanked them for their understand even though inwardly he knew, he just  _ knew _ that he was going to be labelled as lazy for taking off his second week at his new job when anyone else could have powered through it.

Well, there was no use crying over spilled milk. He’d find a way to prove his worth at his new company, but first he needed to use the toilet. He pocketed his cellphone and sat up only to fall back on his pillow again, his brain sloshing and spinning in its juices. He squeezed his eyes shut, which helped a little with the vertigo, and rolled off the couch. The world still tilted like he was on a ship crossing rough seas, but being on all fours kept him stable enough to crawl across the floor very, very slowly so he didn’t ram into a wall.

He reached the dining table when he heard the familiar scratching at his door. By the time he reached the bathroom, Stardust cried drawn-out, pitiful meows. He felt guilty just leaving her there, but considering he now pissed himself just as he reached the toilet bowl, he knew there would be no way he’d be able to even reach the front door without passing out.

Hunched over the toilet, he pulled out his phone to text Jyn.

> _ Me _
> 
> Stardust is at the door but I can’t get the door
> 
> I can’t walk it makes me dizzy
> 
> _ Jyn _
> 
> That’s fine I’m really sorry about her
> 
> I’ll be home by 5 and she’ll probably stop meowing soon and either sit and pout or go back home

He shoved his phone back in his front pocket and when he finished with the toilet, fell forward on his hands to crawl to the bedroom to pull out new underwear and sweatpants, thankfully both on the bottom drawer. The bed looked inviting, but an aching stab to his stomach reminded him that he hadn’t eaten since yesterday. He wheezed as he clawed his way out of the bedroom and into the hall. He stopped at the threshold into the kitchen, heaving as if he had climbed Mount Everest.

The bronze threshold separated the carpet in the hallway that gave him the handholds he needed in order to crawl and the slippery tile that he’d break a jaw on if he tried to crawl on. The refrigerator door, however, looked to be just close enough that if he grabbed a hold of it, his weight would make it swing open.

He reached up, missed, and his face smacked onto the yellowed linolium.

***

A wet sandpaper strip rubbed against his cheek, over and over and over again, until the raw spot stung when air touched it. The sandpaper moved up to the corner of his eye, and he turned his head the other way. Feathers kissed his forehead as the sandpaper started working on stripping the skin off of his other cheek.

“Geroff,” he moaned, finally opening his eyes.

Stardust jerked back, her eyes wide and her front paw dangling in the air as if she was scandalized. Cassian blinked several times, because this had to be some sort of feverish hallucination.

“How’d you get in here?” he whispered.

She responded by rubbing her head all over his greasy head that he hadn’t washed in three days. 

“All right, all right, I’m getting up,” he groaned, then belly-crawled backwards back on to the carpet.

She rubbed up against his shoulder as he managed the achingly long crawl back to the couch. He was hungry and thirsty, but the way his arms shook as he crawled, he feared passing out on the floor again. Once he pulled himself up onto the couch, he piled the blankets over him in a warm clump. Stardust walked the back of the couch and leapt on the peak of the hill of blankets. Smiling for the first time that day, he took a picture of her and sent it to Jyn. 

> _ Me _
> 
> She found a way in 
> 
> _ Jyn _
> 
> How?????
> 
> _ Me _
> 
> I have no idea
> 
> _ Jyn _
> 
> Did you leave a window open?

 

Exhausted by his excursion inside his own house, his phone slipped out of his fingers and he fell asleep.

* * *

 

Jyn checked her messages constantly for the rest of the work day, but he didn’t respond at all, meaning that he probably fell asleep. From what she could tell from the picture, it looked like he was still on the couch, and she wondered if he had left it at all that day. She remembered catching the flu when she was younger and how just moving in her bed hurt as much as it sapped what little energy she had. The difference was that she had parents made sure she ate and drank water and juice and even helped walk her to the bathroom and back because she was too dizzy to walk, and he didn’t seem to have anybody but Stardust visit him.

She texted him when she got off work, asking if he needed anything, but he didn’t respond. He didn’t even read her texts, which concerned her more. She hoped he was just sleeping, but he looked so bad last night and sounded worse this morning. She texted him as she came closer and and closer to his house, but radio silence.

“Cassian?” she shouted when she knocked on his door for the third time. “I’m gonna call for an ambulance if you don’t answer.”

Suddenly the door swung open, Cassian swinging with it until he hit the wall. Stardust ran up to Jyn’s feet and mewed in greeting, but Jyn ignored her.

“Oh my god, Cassian,” she said, slinging and arm around his shoulders so she could lead him back to the couch, her nose wrinkling from the stink that wafted off of him. “Have you been on the couch all day?”

“Yes,” he said faintly in her ear.

She eased him on the couch and grabbed him another glass of water. Thankfully, he seemed to perk up a little once he guzzled it down.

“Have you eaten anything?” she asked.

“No.”

“I can make you some soup.”

He waved his hand once and it plopped on his belly. “Too much trouble.”

“Pulling off a lid and microwaving it in a bowl is not too much trouble. I’m going to get you some more water and then get some soup from my place. Can I borrow your key?”

He licked his lips. “Jyn--”

“Listen, I know we barely know each other but you’re one foot in the grave and need help so I’m not going to argue.”

“Thank you.”

She stared at him for a moment, completely thrown off guard. He smiled a shy smile, his soft doe eyes focusing on the tissue he tore apart in his trembling hands. He looked like he had more to say, but was either too feverish or too nervous to say it.

“You’re welcome,” she breathed, then continued with bringing him his water as if what he had just said didn’t stick in her heart like a burr.

He was dozing off again by the time she returned with a paper bag of canned soup, his fingers carding Stardust’s long hair. She decided to start off with the classic chicken noodle and waited a couple of minutes for it to cool off before bringing it to him. When she handed him the spoon, however, his hand shook so bad that he dropped it on the floor. 

“I don’t know how you’ve managed to survive these last three days on orange juice and toast,” she said as she tipped the spoon in his mouth and catching any dribbles back into the bowl.

“Finally got a job with sick pay,” he said hoarsely as he wiped his chin with a napkin.

Jyn laughed as she gave him another spoonful. “You don’t mean Stardust hasn’t been motivating you to stay alive?”

Stardust looked up from licking her butt next to the coffee table, then continued licking when they laughed at her.

“She’s definitely been helping,” he conceded.

They fell into a comfortable silence as Jyn fed him broth until most of the noodles and chicken showed in the bottom of the bowl.

“Want to try solids?” she asked. 

“Sure, I think I can hold the bowl and spoon now.”

His hands had steadied enough for him to scoop up a noodle into his mouth. He still winced when he swallowed, so Jyn made him tea with honey.

“You know, you’re very good at taking care of sick people. Are you a nurse?” he asked after finishing his first cup, his voice stronger than it had been in days.

“No, I’m in IT. I take care of sick computers. Stardust, stop that!”

Jyn had to pull the cat away from yet another attempt of trying to snag Cassian’s chicken out of his bowl in his lap. He chuckled as Jyn scolded Stardust, who stalked away looking miffed at being denied chicken. Cassian managed to eat all of his soup, and for the first time in days he could feel a little bit of the energy he lost come back to him. He managed walking to the bathroom by himself, but he leaned heavily on the doorjamb when he finished. Jyn stood opposite of him with an arm out in case he fell.

“I’m going to take a shower,” he announced.

Her arm drooped and she pursed her lips. She didn’t want to seem creepy by asking to stay while he showered, but she was genuinely worried he could hurt himself and no one would be around to help.

“Do you want me to stay, or…?” she started.

“You don’t have to.”

But the way he leaned his whole body on the door jamb and struggled to keep his eyes opened suggested otherwise.

“Maybe I should, in case you need help in there?” she suggested.

He didn’t look at her as he chewed on his cheek.

“Yeah, just in case. I just need new clothes.”

Christ, he hadn’t even changed in the last three days. No wonder he smelled especially ripe. She hung back as he used the wall to help him walk to his bedroom and grab a fresh pair of pajamas (and she hoped underwear, because she didn’t even want to think about what was growing if hadn’t changed in three days, and now she was thinking of it– fantastic). She leaned against the wall next to the closed bathroom door and listened as he turned the shower on, then grunt and groan as he stepped inside. 

Stardust stepped up to the toes of her boots and meowed until Jyn picked her up. After Cassian got out of the shower she would take Stardust home and feed her, maybe even pick up a few things so she could--

No. No staying the night. 

Eventually Stardust got bored and wriggled in Jyn’s grasp until she was let free to roam. Jyn played on her phone and suddenly she realized that Cassian had been in the shower for twenty minutes.

She knocked gently at first. “Cassian, you okay in there?”

No response. Jyn turned off her game and opened the phone app before knocking on his door again, heavier this time.

“Cassian, what’s going on? Are you hurt? Cassian?”

She balled her hand into a tight fist and pounded against the white-washed door.

“CASS-I-AN. CASS-I-AN. YOU O-KAY?”

“Fine, I’m fine,” Cassian moaned, his voice muffled and groggy. “Fell asleep. Getting out now.”

Jyn closed her phone and waited under ten minutes before Cassian opened the door with one hand clutching the door handle while the other leaned on the frame. 

“Need help to the bed?” she asked.

“Yes please,” he answered, only able to keep one eye open.

She looped an arm over his shoulders and his hung heavily over hers, and together they stumbled to his bedroom.

“Where’s Star?” he yawned.

“Dunno, but I know she’s in the house somewhere.”

They found her the minute they entered his bedroom. She laid at the foot of the bed, raising her head to watch the one human she trusted half-drag the only other human she trusted to the side of the bed.

“Move it, Stardust!” Jyn barked.

The cat flew off the dusty blue comforter faster than a bolt of lightning. Jyn grumbled an apology as she threw back his thick covers. He mumbled something back that she couldn’t understand as she helped him into his bed big enough for two.

_ Stop it _ , she thought to herself.  _ You are no Florence Nightingale. _

She tucked him in as snuggly she could before leaving to grab him a couple of glasses of water and a box of tissues and his phone and tried to get it to all fit on his small nightstand table. When she had finally figured it out, she sat at the foot of his bed and let exhaustion crash over her. She still needed to feed Stardust and herself, then take a scalding hot shower to sanitize herself before going to bed.

“Are you leaving?” he muttered, his eyes still closed.

_ I don’t have to _ , she thought, but bit her tongue on that. “Unless you needed anything else?”

He shifted under his covers and opened one of his eyes. “No, I’m fine. Thank you again, Jyn. I’d probably still be on the kitchen floor without your help.”

“Ha, right. Wait, what?”

He was already asleep, which was a good thing. Now that he washed, ate, and drank, hopefully sleep would finally help him through the worst of his flu. Her work was done here, and she needed to go home, but she wanted to make sure that he was getting better because he kept getting worse every time she left.

_ Well, that’s how the flu works. It gets worse before it gets better _ , she thought. She texted him to let her know when he woke, then gathered up Stardust before she could let any second thoughts nail her to his place.

She didn’t know him. She was only doing this because he needed help. She still hoped that he would call after he got better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters seem to being growing longer and longer....
> 
> Anywho, I won't be able to get back to this until Thanksgiving break starts, but I'm so happy that everyone is really enjoying this fic! It's honestly the gift that keeps on giving.


	4. The Unspoken Goodbye

“Are you leaving?” Cassian muttered, eyes still closed.

He didn’t mean for it to sound so desperately rude, but now that she was about to leave something childish in him lashed out. She barely knew him and yet she was so generous with her care, and she was going to leave and he didn’t know if she would come back.

“Unless you need anything else?” Jyn asked, clearly exhausted with dealing with him all day.

 _I didn’t know what I needed until you came_. “No, I’m fine. Thank you, Jyn. I’d probably still be on the kitchen floor without your help.”

“Ha, right. Wait, what?”

He let go of whatever was keeping him conscious so he didn’t have to listen to her leave.

***

Cassian woke up with his face half-buried under the covers.

Muted light brightened the room just enough for him to guess that it was the late morning. He blinked and one of his eyelids stuck together. He sat up and rubbed it until it peeled open open again, rolling off the covers that smothered him with warmth. All at once, he realized the change.

After three days of the world spinning out of control, everything was still.

He slid his legs off the bed and gradually added weight until he stood upright. His legs trembled as he walked to the bathroom, muscles groaning from such little use over the last three days. He made it to the toilet just fine, and even felt motivated to shower off the night sweat that pooled under his arms and on his back.

He let the shower run hot until a thick fog of steam built up in the tiny bathroom, then stepped inside and breathed deeply. It was like magic, really, how one moment he’d feel like breathing through sludge one moment and then the next breathed like he wasn’t ill at all. Hot water pelted his face and ran down his frame, washing off the remaining dredges of his broken fever.

This was so much better than his shower last night, when he had to crawl in the tub and prayed that he didn’t slip and bash his head in. But he managed it, inch by painful inch as he clung to the shower curtain and the lip of the tub. There was no way he could stand, so he sat at the gentle end of the shower’s arch. An oily, musty stench flooded from his hair when he massaged shampoo in it. The smell was gone when he washed it again, his shampoo bubbling between his fingers.

Washing his hair exhausted him, so he sat sideways and leaned his head against the cool tiled wall. Warm water rained over his arms and knees and pooled in his belly, gradually eroding the built up grime and sweat. He really should have taken a shower sooner than this, but he had been too tired to wash, too tired to eat, too tired to drink. Really, if Jyn hadn’t come…

He opened his eyes (not realizing he’d closed). What would have happened if Jyn hadn’t come to help him? At best he’d probably still be wasting away on that couch until well into next week, but he wouldn’t have asked for help. He would just sweat it out himself and dealt with it. His brother and sisters and cousins were either too far away or had their own lives to worry about him. He couldn’t burden his friends and possibly get them sick, and while he was friendly with Kay, he was a new work friend and that would be ridiculous to ask so much of him.

But if Jyn hadn’t had helped him, at worse he could have, but it was ridiculous--

“CASS-I-AN! CASS-I-AN! YOU O-KAY?”

“Fine, I’m fine,” he moaned, masking the bump against the wall when he jerked awake. “Fell asleep. Getting out now.”

When he shut off the water, he realized that his hands were starting to prune. Christ, how long had he been sitting there? Long enough to be boiled clean, it seemed. He crawled out of the tub, brushed his teeth, and changed into his new pajamas before he pulled himself up by grappling on to the sink. His stomach punched up his throat from the effort, making him wheeze. Jyn was waiting for him, because they both knew that he wouldn’t be able to make it to the bed on his own.

With anyone else, he may have resented his own helplessness. With her, he felt comforted knowing that she was just outside his door and ready to help him, but he didn’t understand why.

“Need help to the bed?” she asked when he had finally opened the door.

All too easily he had said, “Yes please.”

Now, he stood in the shower. He was still careful when he left it, as his legs trembled while they adjusted to standing upright for longer than five minutes, but he was capable of walking back to his bedroom to throw on a t-shirt and sweatpants. Had Jyn not helped him yesterday, he pondered, then he may not have been able to do things like shower and gather laundry by himself today.

After rolling up his pajamas with his damp white sheets, he walked to the basement door and found it slightly open. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled, because he didn't remember leaving it open and he did remember Jyn going to her house to do laundry. Then he shook his head at his paranoia, remembering that the latch on this door wasn't as tight as it should be, causing it to open up by itself. He was going to fix it once he finished settling in, but then he got sick.

In a huff he carried his load down into the basement, his nose wrinkling at what could only be the smell of urine. Once he stepped off the bottom step he rushed to his washer and stuffed it, then investigated the area with his collar over his face to filter out the smell.

He didn't have to look far to find the source: an old box of Christmas tree tinsel had popped open and inside was a piece of cat shit and no doubt pee.

“Stardust?” he called out, looking around the other boxes for any speck of white.

Behind the tower of storage boxes was the small window he couldn't put his head through, but it was open just wide wide for a very smart cat to sneak into.

“That's how you got in,” he murmured, then snapped it closed so that other critters couldn't sneak in and shit in his Christmas decorations.

He doubled checked the other boxes to see if any got sprayed, then set up his laundry and picked up the ruined tinsel box to throw away outside. Afterwards he sat down on the couch to another bowl of soup from one of the canned soups Jyn had left in his kitchen, in a bit of a daze that he had done more in the last two hours than he had for the past three days.

He checked his phone and saw that Jyn had left him a couple of texts last night:

> _Jyn_
> 
> Hope you're better when you read this. I left some soup for you in the kitchen. Can you text me when you wake up?
> 
> I think I found out where Stardust keeps escaping. Guess we'll find out tomorrow.

His heart took a tumble when he read that, because he rather enjoyed the cat’s surprise visits (despite her peeing in his Christmas decorations).

> _Me_
> 
> I'm awake. Thank you again so much for all of your help. My fever finally broke and I think I'm getting better.
> 
> Thanks for the soup, I'll pay you back when I'm not contagious

Before he could even eat another spoonful of tomato rotini his phone pinged him.

> _Jyn_
> 
> No worries about the soup it's a housewarming gift
> 
> And I'm glad you're feeling better

Cassian read and reread the text, debating if he should text back or not. Since he could probably take care of himself now and if they were able to keep Stardust from breaking out, then Jyn didn't have any reason to come over. He shouldn’t expect her to come over after all that she’s done for him. He put his phone back on the coffee table and finished his soup just his head lolled.

He woke up, unsure of the time, although there was still daylight, curled up on the back pillows with his arms pinned against his chest. There was no heat purring on his chest, no velvet nose nuzzling his neck, no long, soft fur to run his fingers through. He felt kind of cold without her.

The laundry buzzed and he forced himself up and out of his daydream. He returned to the couch with a thick quilt and his laptop, determined to keep himself occupied. _Planet Earth_ would be an easy enough watch, so he settled under his quilt to watch the penguins endure perpetual darkness.

_Scrtch._

Spring had come to _Planet Earth_ when he jerked his hand out to pause it, thinking he heard Stardust scratching at the door. He waited, listening, but the noise didn’t come again until he readjusted on the couch, which whined in the same sound he heard earlier.

The polar bear cubs were playing when he paused it again to listen for Stardust. Silence. He still got up and opened the door, but he didn’t see even one white hair of her anywhere. He returned to the couch, feeling a bit silly, but he still paused _Planet Earth_ now and then to listen for her, just in case.

When the dryer buzzed, he checked the basement window in case she was hanging out there, but there was no trace of her. She wasn’t going to be coming back, and Jyn wouldn’t be coming to pick her up, which was fine. If he wanted to be mothered, then he would have stayed in Mexico with his parents. But he didn’t want that, so he moved up here when he was 15 to go to school, get his work visa, get his dual citizenship, and he worked every day for it--except for this week. He couldn’t remember if he had ever been bed-ridden like this, but he couldn’t let this happen again. Rest made him greedy.

But he needed to rest after he put his laundry away. He made some tea with honey and collapsed on the couch. By the time he had finished half of his tea, he fell asleep by as the recorded jungle birds crooned for a mate.

Sunset fell when he woke up to the ping of his phone. Jyn had texted him again, but with a video of a very surly Stardust thumping her tail against the plain red couch cushion.

“ _As you can see, she’s been in the house all day like she’s supposed to and is very upset. Won’t even look at me_ ,” Jyn said as she tried to film the cat’s face, but she kept turning her head. “ _C’mon, Stardust. Don’t you have anything to say to Cassian?_ ”

Stardust’s jaw trembled as if she meowed, but he couldn’t hear a thing.

“ _I’m going to take that as ‘get well soon, Cassian. Thanks for putting up with me._ ”

He snorted a laugh as the the video ended on Stardust’s pinched scowl. 

> _Me_
> 
> Thanks for that. I have been doing a lot better. Hopefully can go to work next week

He waited a few minutes, but there was no answer. Maybe he should send another text, a question she could actually answer like how long she’s owned Stardust and what type of cat she was, but the greedy part of him wanted to know more about what she did and how long she’d been in the neighborhood and were there any good places to eat because maybe they could go together.

He could probably text her all that, or he could leave the phone on the coffee table before dragging himself to bed. He decided to starve his greed, and chose to go to bed.

* * *

After Jyn came home after taking care of Cassian, she discovered where Stardust kept escaping: the bathroom window. It was small and high enough that she didn’t have to worry about people breaking in when she left it halfway open, but steam wasn’t the only thing getting out. Stardust was deceptively svelte under that long coat.

“I’ve got you figured out now, Stardust,” Jyn said. “No more breaking out.”

Stardust just glared at her from the toilet, then strutted off without a meow. Jyn didn’t see her for the rest of the night, but felt her when she jumped up on the bed and curled up against her side. By the morning, Jyn had moved from the middle of the bed to the side, Stardust sleeping behind her bent knees. The cat seemed perfectly content when Jyn gave her one last head scratch goodbye, no doubt plotting a new escape route.

Cassian texted her the moment she stepped into her building, and she let out a short sigh of relief that his fever finally broke. She might have dragged him into the hospital if it hadn’t.

 _Or someone he knows would have taken him_ , the more rational voice in her head reminded her. _He also could have called for an ambulance_.

She sighed at herself this time and decided to focus on her work, but she kept checking her phone to see if Cassian texted about Stardust that Bodhi teased her about it.

“Tinder date ghost you?” he said, his eyes never leaving his computer screen.

“Took it off my phone last week. I’m going clean.” She flipped her phone’s screen down.

“That’s what you said a month ago.”

Usually Jyn had something clever to say back at him, but the better part of her brain was on Stardust. It was possible that she could have escaped and _not_ gone to Cassian’s house, but the cat seemed to be obsessed with him. She smiled in spite of herself. She did offer to give her salmon for a date, but she only meant it half-in jest. She had learned the hard way to not fuck your neighbor from Hadder Ponta.

They were teenagers then, as well as next door neighbors. The flirting game only lasted for about two weeks until they were sneaking through each other’s bedroom windows. But then, a week after her sixteenth birthday, he surprised Jyn by telling her that he was going to enlist in the air force when he turned eighteen. To his surprise, Jyn wasn’t thrilled about it, and after a long night of talking in his room, he promised her he wouldn’t. He still wanted to fly, so he would be an airline pilot. They studied together, searched for colleges together, helped each other with their applications--Jyn applied to the same schools he did, since they were both going for science degrees. They wouldn’t be able to share a dorm, but after the first year they could get a studio apartment together and probably a cat. Jyn had always wanted a cat of her own.

She had to trash all her wonderful plans when Hadder told her the week before graduation that he enlisted after all.

“You have to understand, Jyn,” he said, his hands holding hers too tight. “It’s really hard to make it as an airline pilot, and most of them that do are military. The military will help pay for college too.”

Jyn said nothing as she stared at him, still reeling from the betrayal. She knew he was just being practical, that she was throwing an internal temper-tantrum out of pure selfishness.

“Jyn,” he said softly, his dark eyes shining with held in tears, “I know you’re upset. I know I broke my promise, but this is the only way I can do this.”

“I know. I hope it works out,” she said sincerely. He shattered her heart but she couldn’t wish him ill. Jyn was able to get a couple of scholarships but still had a boatload of loans, something Hadder told her before he couldn’t afford to have since it was just him and his mom. He was doing what he needed to survive, and Jyn was doing what she needed to survive by leaving him.

Her next few relationships in college didn’t last longer for more than a month or two, so she decided to try Tinder for whenever she needed a quick fuck. For the most part, it worked beautifully. Most of the guys were looking for a one-time fuck without attachments, and she would never see the same guy more than twice. A few guys did get attached after the first night, however, and would try to harass her until she hacked into their computers and wiped everything clean. A little illegal, but they had bigger problems.

Once she graduated, she had the good fortune of finding work in the same city she grew up in, but she wanted a change of scenery. She was able to find a (relatively) affordable house to rent and once she had the essentials, decided to get the cat she always wanted. She looked up different shelters online and wanted to take them all home, but just couldn’t decide. Instead, her parents chose for her and gave her a Christma stocking carrying a mewling Turkish Angora kitten wearing a red bow bigger than her head.

Thinking of, she hadn’t heard a peep from Cassian about Stardust all day. She started to feel a bit of hope as she drove home that her planned had worked.

Stardust glared at her from the living room window when she parked in the driveway.

“Meo-ow! Meow! Me-o-o-o-ow,” Stardust whined as she danced around Jyn’s legs as she slipped in, but try as she might she couldn’t escape.

“I guess I did figure you out!” Jyn laughed and bent down to pet her, but Stardust stormed off to the couch.

Jyn pulled out her phone to record Stardust’s chagrin. Stardust tried to look away from the camera but Jyn managed it in the end, laughing so hard she nearly peed herself with how pissed her cat looked, and sent it to him. He almost immediately texted her back.

> _Cassian_
> 
> Thanks for that. I have been doing a lot better. Hopefully can go to work next week

Her thumbs hovered over the keyboard, about to ask what he did for work, but put her phone to sleep instead. Now that he was better, he probably didn’t want her over there anymore. She was certain he loved Stardust, which was a great start but...she could already see where this was going. Despite his stubbornness over his illness, he wasn’t half bad to look at and he seemed to be a good person. He must be an excellent person if Stardust approved of him.

But say, what happens after the first date? Could they just sleep together and never encounter each other again? It was a somewhat plausible scenario, since he lived four houses away. But what if he wanted more, something that lasted longer than sugar in the rain? She didn’t want to fool him into thinking she could give him that.

Stardust brushed against Jyn’s arm until she started scratching her under her tiny chin.

“Forget what I said earlier, Stardust. It’s better if Cassian and I were just neighbors.”

She turned her phone back on to reinstall Tinder, but then Stardust walked up on her thighs and curled her feathery tail over her face until Jyn dropped the phone to scratch her all over with both hands. Jyn pressed her face into the cat’s purring side, trying to drown out the feeling that came with knowing she did the right thing but wishing she could have what she wanted anyway.


	5. Hello Again

It had been exactly one week since Cassian first texted her about Stardust. She was good and didn’t text him back since Thursday. His texts were crowded out by texts from her parents, Bodhi, and a couple of old out-of-state college friends. That Monday morning she opened her bathroom window a little to let the steam flood out into the crisp autumn air. Mondays sucked, so she tried to make it suck less by getting up early so she could spend a little extra time showering and playing with her make-up. She decided to go for a cat eye over a dusty rose eyeshadow that morning, and she liked the look so much that she decided to add the quartz crystal pendant her mom gave her.

Traffic wasn’t shitty for once, so she was in a fantastic mood when arrived at work. Even her daily brawl to get into the elevator didn’t put a damper on her mood, until she heard someone cough.

 _Great, now we’re all getting the flu,_ she thought at first. _Wait, I know that cough._

She craned her neck to try and find the source of the cough in the mix of adults stuffed in suits either too large or too small, her eyes finally falling on a properly tailored slate gray suit. The wearer had paired a black tie over a fog gray silk shirt and tucked them both neatly in the jacket. Even his dark brown beard was neatly trimmed along a jawline sharp enough to cut glass. The cough came from that direction, but this man couldn’t be Cassian. It would be too much of a coincidence--

The man coughed again, his head turned towards Jyn this time. It was Cassian.

She only guessed that Cassian was hot when she took care of him, but this was a level that she was not prepared for. Jyn stared at him, trapped in his equally surprised gaze. He smiled, the skin around his brown eyes crinkling like when he told her thank you, and it was suddenly very hard to breathe in this overstuffed elevator.

“Jyn? You’re in this building too?” he asked.

“I work here.”

His eyebrows knitted just as she realized how completely bitchy she sounded. Before either of them said a word, the elevator door opened and Jyn bolted out of there like it was her floor. She paced in a slow circle as she waited for a new elevator, her heart thumping in her throat. She pulled out her phone to text an apology, but held off because then she would have to explain why her first reaction to him in that suit was to be an asshole like she was twelve and didn’t know what to do with her feelings of a first crush.

Jyn got back on the elevator and took it up to the correct floor, where she barely greeted anyone in her rush to just sit at her desk and bury herself in her work until it was time to clock out. Bodhi was already at his desk across hers, smiling as he sipped his coffee.

“So, who was that?” he asked the moment she sat down.

She blinked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“In the elevator.”

Heat creeped up her throat. “You were there?”

“Yeah, jammed up in the corner. So who was that in the elevator?”

“No one.”

His smile dimmed. “You left the minute the door opened on the wrong floor. Is he someone you don’t want knowing where you work?”

“No, I just didn’t expect to see him here.”

His smile returned. “I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen you being shy.”

“I am not being shy,” Jyn retorted, her face burning. “Let’s just get to work.”

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, Jyn. He’s pretty easy on the eyes. Wait, was that the person you were checking for on your phone last week?”

“Bodhi, please, it’s too early on a Monday morning,” she groaned.

“All right, I’ll shut up,” he sighed. “But if things don’t work out between you two, could you give him my number?”

Jyn threw a pad of sticky notes at his forehead.

* * *

  
Jyn managed to get through her day without a word from Cassian. She still hadn’t texted him to apologize, but the longer the day went on, the more decided it was a better idea to not bring it up. She was going to restrain herself for both of their sakes.

As soon as she got off work, she hid in the farthest corner of the elevator in case Cassian got on too, but she didn’t see him or his gray suit. Her shoulders sagged a little in relief as she drove home, but tensed up again when she passed by his car parked in his driveway.

“I’m home, fuck today,” Jyn whined when she entered her house, but Stardust wasn’t there to greet her. She was probably sulking somewhere again about being locked in.

Jyn kicked off her shoes and stormed into the bathroom. Her cat-eyes only were a little bit smudged, but altogether the look held up pretty well. It still felt satisfying to scrub off all her hard work that morning, leaving her washed face rosy. The cool breeze from the bathroom window felt heavenly as it brush under her low bun.

The bathroom window was open.

“Stardust?” Jyn called out from the bathroom, but nothing.

“Stardust!” she called out as she looked under the couch where she hid her toys, on the dining chair seats she liked to nap on, in her closet where she sometimes made a cocoon out of the amount of junk crammed into it. Jyn searched everywhere, even in the basement and the crawl space of the attic, but there was no sign of the cat anywhere.

Cassian hadn’t texted her either.

> _Me_  
>  Hey sorry I was an ass this morning but is Stardust at your place? I forgot to close my window and I can’t find her

Stuffing her phone in her back pocket, Jyn went into her backyard to lean over her small hedge of evergreen bushes, but she didn’t see even a wisp of white fur. She brought out a stool to peek over her wood fence and into her neighbors’ yards just in case, but no sign of her there either. Stardust had to be at Cassian’s then. Jyn huffed and went back inside to grab her keys when her phone pinged. When she read the text, her heart plummeted to the floor.

> _Cassian_  
>  No she isn’t here.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Won't keep you in suspense for long! Will have an update by tomorrow morning.


	6. The Search

New week, new Monday.

Even though he still had a lingering cough, Cassian had kicked most of his illness and was ready to be back at work again. He was grateful for the sick pay and their understanding, but he couldn’t risk taking that amount of time off again. Non-profit in-house lawyer positions were as easy to find as snowmen in hell. So when Cassian got up on Monday morning, he made sure that not a detail in his outfit or briefcase was out of place, trimmed his beard and styled his hair back, and left early so he was one of the first to get into his building. When he stepped into that elevator, he was ready to take this week by the horns and make it work for him.

Then he saw Jyn.

A shock ran up his spine when his gaze was caught in her surprised, sea-green eyes. Her eyes were lined in black, something he wasn’t used to but it matched the pitch black blouse that ruffled around her neck. Her hair was pulled back in its usual low bun, but her hair was shiny and smooth, her long bangs combed into soft wings over her cheeks.

“Jyn, you’re in this building?” he said before he could stop himself.

“I work here.”

Her words snapped him out of the haze he had fallen into, and before he could apologize, she was gone. He felt stupid; of course she worked in this building, why else would she be here on a Monday morning? But he also felt a little shocked at her response. He thought that they had parted on good terms, that maybe they were even friends, but now he saw that he assumed way too much of her. She didn’t text back not because he didn’t ask her a question for her to answer, but because she wasn’t interested in him at all. She only came over to bring her cat back home, but stayed out of pity because he couldn’t take care of himself.

He left the elevator with his shoulders straight, but couldn’t swallow past what felt like a piece of glass in his throat. It stuck with him all day, cutting deeper and deeper into his flesh. It wasn’t fair for him to feel like this when he had done much worse to other people who had cared for him, regardless if he was sick or not. He put his nose to the grindstone that day, almost forgetting about the pain in his throat until the end of the day when he stepped back into the elevator.

When he returned home, he threw on a blue sweater and jeans (the evenings had a bit more bite to them now that it was September) and decided to have cereal for dinner again since he ate all the soup Jyn brought over. After he ate, he’d go and get groceries. He finished his first bowl when his phone pinged with a new text. Somehow he knew it had to be Jyn, but the text wasn’t hostile like he expected: 

 

 

> _Jyn_
> 
> Hey sorry I was an ass this morning but is Stardust at your place? I forgot to close my window and I can’t find her

He put down his spoon and went down to the basement, but the window was still locked tight and there was no new cat pee spots around the boxes. He headed back up and checked every room and under every surface, but there was no sign of the cat. He stepped outside to the front yard where he first met her, but she wasn’t there, so he checked his backyard that turned out to be equally fruitless.

Cassian finally swallowed down the piece of glass, and it stabbed him when it fell in his stomach.

>   _Me_
> 
> No she isn’t here
> 
> _Jyn_
> 
> Ok

The thought bubble on her side flickered in and out of existence until he texted back.

>   _Me_
> 
> Maybe she went to a new house. I can ask the neighbors if they’ve seen her.

Her side went blank, and he knew he overstepped again. Why couldn’t he just accept that--

The phone pinged again.

>   _Jyn_
> 
> Yes if you can please
> 
> She’s chipped so I’m going to call the shelters

He let out a breath he held for the last two minutes. Okay, so he didn’t overstep then. He simply found a way to repay her kindness and generosity if he helped to find Stardust, and once the cat was found then they could back to living as neighbors who ignore each other like most neighbors do.

The first door he knocked was the second house away from Jyn’s. A pale, bearded man in his sixties opened the door while still wearing a brown robe over his white pajamas. His gray-blue eyes stared at Cassian as if he could see right through him, but Cassian didn’t flinch.

“Can I help you?” he asked in a clipped British accent.

“Yes, my name is Cassian and I’m your new neighbor, but your other neighbor Jyn has a cat that she lost today. Have you seen her?” he said, holding up the phone with the first picture he took of her.

The old man squinted. “No, I don’t believe I have. Sorry. Have you checked the shelters?”

“Jyn’s calling right now, but I’m checking around here in case anyone else has seen her.”

The old man’s face softened. “Upstanding fellow, are you?”

“I try to be,” Cassian said.

“Well, good luck with finding your--”

Another voice, this one as ancient and withered as a used up piece of sandpaper, called out from within the house. “Ben? Ben who’s that at the door?”

Ben, the man’s name turned out to be, closed his eyes for a moment before turning away back into the hall. “Our new neighbor is here to let us know that another neighbor has lost her cat.”

Cassian heard the unmistakable clunk of a walker. “Whose cat?”

“Jyn’s cat.”

“Jim? Jim Kirk? He hasn’t lived here in forty years.”

“ _Jyn,_ not Jim, Qui-Gon.” Ben groaned before turning back to Cassian. “Terribly sorry, but good luck finding your cat.

“Thank--” The door shut in his face.

Cassian marched down to Jyn’s next-door neighbor, hoping he’d have better luck. A younger man rocking a fussing infant introduced himself as Han before Cassian launched into his spiel.

“Jyn? I don’t know a Jyn,” Han interrupted.

“She’s your next door neighbor,” he repeated.

“Oh. Don’t do much socializing now that we’ve got the bean, y’know?” he chuckled, then took another look at Cassian’s phone. “Wait, this is her cat?”

Cassian’s heart leapt in his throat. “Yes, it is! You’ve seen her?”

“You bet I have. She’s usually sitting on the fence whenever I take Ben out in the back to play, and she hisses and growls at us like we’re trespassing. Just a really mean ass cat. She’s missing?”

Cassian restrained his voice to keep it neutral. “Yes, she is.”

Han shrugged. “Well, I didn’t see her today when I was out back. Maybe you’ll find her, but don’t get your hopes up. There’s coyotes around here that have snatched up cats and small dogs.”

Cassian stiffened. “If you do see her, though, could you tell Jyn?”

“Sure, good luck.”

Cassian grumbled to himself as he passed by Jyn’s house to her other, hopefully more helpful next door neighbor. He could see Jyn pace around in her living room with the phone pressed against her ear, looking like she was about to throw up. He didn’t blame her. Natural predators like coyotes and hawks were one thing, but people were a lot worse, no matter which country he was in.

“Hi! Cassian, was it? Cómo estás?” Shara Bey said as she answered the door. She and her husband Kes and their two year old son Poe were the first and only neighbors who greeted him a few days after he had moved in.

“Podría estar mejor,” he answered with a shrug. “Jyn’s cat is missing.”

Shara’s face froze in a polite smile as she brushed back the black curls that escaped her ponytail.

“Who is Jyn?” Shara asked.

“She’s your next door neighbor.”

“She is?” she asked, poking her head out and looking at the other house next to her. “But I thought that was where Amilyn and her blue-haired partner lived?”

“Other next door neighbor.”

Shara turned her head, her eyebrows bent into steep angles and her arms crossed over her chest.

“You know what, I don’t think I’ve ever met her. When Kes and I moved here we knocked on that door a couple of times but no one ever answered. Obviously someone lives there since the car’s there, but we figured they didn’t want to be bothered. What did the cat look like?”

Shara leaned over the phone, shaking her head. She called up both Kes and Poe. Kes hadn’t seen Stardust either and Poe only cared about stealing Cassian’s phone. Cassian moved on to Amilyn’s house, but no one was home, so he continued knocking on every door in the neighborhood until the last streak of light was left in the sky, and no one had seen Stardust. Jyn hadn’t texted him either. 

>   _Me_
> 
> No luck with the neighbors, but I’m going back to my house to check. Any luck with you?
> 
> _Jyn_
> 
> No
> 
> I’ve looked all over my house
> 
> Can I help you look?
> 
> _Me_
> 
> Absolutely, I’ll leave the door unlocked.

Cassian jogged back home, checking the basement first. As he was rummaging through the old Christmas decorations, he heard the front door close.

“It’s me,” Jyn called out. “Where are you?”

“Basement. Check any room you want.”

She didn’t answer and her footsteps were so soft that he didn’t know which direction she went in. He continued to search inside every box, even if they were stapled or taped shut, just in case that Houdini of a cat somehow managed to get in one. Suddenly he had the idea to look behind the washer and dryer because he hadn’t done so the first time he checked.

She wasn’t there.

They weren’t going to find her in his house. There was an overwhelming chance that they weren’t ever going to find her. She was a friendly enough cat, and he hoped for the best case scenario– that another family had her and either didn’t call Jyn or couldn’t because the collar was lost. But then he thought of what Han had told him, about Stardust just hissing at a baby for no reason. Even Jyn told him the first time they met that she wasn’t a very trusting cat.

Cassian trudged up the stairs, his thoughts heavy with coyotes and hawks, snakes and dogs, cars and knives.

When he reached the top step, he didn’t see Jyn anywhere in the kitchen or the living room. He walked to the hall, where his bedroom door and linen cupboard were open but the bathroom door was shut. He quietly approached the door until he heard hushed sobs.

His heart called out for her, but he remained silent. There was nothing he could say to make this better, and he feared anything he could try and say would only make it worse. He didn’t know her. Apparently no one in this neighborhood knew her.

What he _could_ do, however, was give her space. He backed away and walked to the kitchen to make tea, if it was what she wanted. But if she wanted to leave without a word, he’d let her. As he put the pot on the stove top, he realized that he would look every day for Stardust if she asked him to.

* * *

Eventually, Jyn would have to leave Cassian’s bathroom. She heard him approach the door a few minutes ago, but thankfully left her alone. He probably already came to the same conclusion that she did: they weren't going to find Stardust.

The weight of it didn't hit her until she checked under the couch, and when she looked back up she saw a small purple stain from the cough syrup Stardust had knocked off the coffee table. She stood up, her hands shaking as she looked outside and saw that it was pitch black. Jyn fled to the bathroom, locked the door behind her, and folded over the toilet so she could grieve.

How could she have been so careless? Not just with the window, but with encouraging Stardust to even leave the house. It didn’t matter that it was a joke, didn’t matter that her cat wouldn’t understand what she was saying, Jyn shouldn’t have wished this. If she wanted to get to know Cassian, she should have been direct about it, instead of this roundabout bullshit way. A part of her blamed Cassian for letting her into his house, but that wasn’t fair. If he hadn’t let Stardust in that first day, Jyn could have lost her then instead of now.

Jyn checked her phone and saw that she had been in the bathroom for about fifteen minutes. After inhaling a deep, shaky breath, she pushed herself up to wash her face in the sink. The cold water helped calm the flush over her face, but her eyes were still stained red. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to know what she had been doing. She took another deep breath, gripped the door knob, and opened it.

Cinnamon perfumed the air as Jyn entered the living room. The kitchen pass through’s shutters folded, Jyn watched Cassian moved a pot from from one burner to another before reaching up into the cupboard to bring down a couple of glass mugs. He opened several drawers before pulling out what looked to be hand strainer and poking at whatever was in the steaming pot.

“Smells nice,” Jyn said, and to her surprise he didn’t jump.

“It’s tea,” he said, then left the kitchen to join her in the living room. “All I had were cinnamon sticks. It takes a while, but would you like some?”

 _Yes_ , she thought, even though she never had cinnamon tea before. She wanted to sit down next to him on his couch, feeling the spice course through her blood, and never go back home. His eyes, though somber, tempted her to stay.

But she had to go back home. She had to accept the consequences for her carelessness.

“No, I think I should go,” she said, her voice brittle.

“Do you want me to walk you?”

She looked up at him, because he was toe to toe with her now. She smiled through her tears.

“It’s only a couple houses away, but thank you.”

Neither of them moved, but Jyn was the first to look away.

“I’ll keep any eye out for her, but if you need help with anything, please let me know,” he murmured.

She wanted to grab a hand, an arm--maybe even just hold him until he understood that he had already done more than she would have ever expected from someone who had only known her for a week.

Instead, she kept her eyes down and whispered, “Thank you.”

Jyn let him open the front door for her and wish her good night. Her hand flew to her face when he closed the door behind her, stifling her cry. Just a half a block. She just had to walk for half a block until she reached her house and she could scream her head off. Gulping down the cool air, she staggered down Cassian’s driveway.

“ _Mew_.”

Jyn whirled back towards the house. “Stardust?”

“ _MEOW. ME-O-O-OW._ ”

Jyn rushed up to the garage, calling her name out and hearing the familiar, muffled yowl back. She had checked the garage before, but either it hadn’t been very thorough or Stardust snuck in while she was in the bathroom, but she didn’t care how except that she was there. She tore back to the front door and banged on it until Cassian opened it.

“Wha--” he started, but then Jyn grabbed him by the front of the shirt.

“I FOUND HER! I FOUND STARDUST! SHE’S IN THE GARAGE!”

Eyes wide now, Cassian took her hands and pulled her inside. They ran into the kitchen and blasted through the door that attached the garage to the main house. Jyn took the lead and followed the meows to the front corner of the garage where a shelving unit of boxes stood. They tore through the boxes of extension cables and bottles of oil and small hand tools as Stardust continued to meow, but she was nowhere to be seen.

“She’s not here, but I hear her, Cassian. I’m not crazy, I’m not,” she said, but breathed too quickly to talk.

Cassian clamped a hand on her shoulder, steadying her. “You’re not crazy, I hear her too. She’s just somewhere we can’t see her. I’ll open the garage door and get some more lights.”

Jyn nodded, her breathing slowing down and the oncoming dizziness fading away. The meowing ceased when the garage door rose, but when Jyn called out she let out a sigh of relief when she heard the frantic meows begin again. Cassian set up a flood lamp in the corner of where the meowing came from, still muffled like she was trapped inside--

“Oh no,” Jyn moaned. “She’s in the wall, isn’t she?”

“It’s starting to look that way,” Cassian said, tapping against the wall with his knuckle. “This is a false column.”

Jyn knocked on it and heard the sound echo inside. “So it’s hollow.”

“And probably not sealed on top, which is how she fell in.”

Cassian stepped away from the column and dug through one of his boxes until he pulled out a pencil and  an electric rotary drywall saw. Jyn’s heart stammered in her chest, knowing exactly what Cassian was planning. They would need to cut a hole so Stardust could get out. It was probably the only way, and Jyn hated it.

“Give me the pencil,” Jyn said, then pressed an ear against the column when she said, “Stardust?”

“ _MEOWMEOWMEOW_ ”

Jyn drew a large X to mark where she believed Stardust’s head was, then handed the pencil back to Cassian. He drew a rectangle above the X. Jyn stood back, one hand gripping her crystal pendant, and prayed to whoever was listening that Stardust would keep her head down as Cassian cut through the drywall.

Several long minutes passed until the grinding of the saw stopped and Cassian pulled the white chunk out. Stardust squeezed out of the hole and shook off the dust in her fur, looking annoyed but completely unhurt.

“Stardust!” Jyn cried out as she leaned down to pick her up, but the cat slipped through her hands and sauntered out of the garage and through the front door as if she meant to get trapped for hours.

“She’s probably thirsty,” Cassian laughed as he tried to wipe the fine white dust off of his blue sweater. “The bowls are in the cupboard next to the sink.”

Jyn caught his wrist and squeezed it, and he looked up at her, eyes wide and lips slightly parted with surprise.

“Thank you,” she said, then let him go to chase after Stardust.

Stardust whined until Jyn gave her a small dish of water. As her cat drank, Jyn combed through her white hair to pick out the pieces of wood and drywall with shaking hands. Tears prickled in her eyes before they ran down her face. Relieved, happy tears, but a reminder of what she had nearly lost. She would make sure every damn window was closed before she left the house.

Cassian approached the kitchen threshold and leaned against the archway, wearing a new red sweater and jeans.

She looked up at him and asked, “Are we still on for tea? Because I think I might need it now.”

The tea, next to Stardust kneading her kneecap as she purred in her lap, was just what Jyn needed. Cassian sat next to her, petting Stardust’s thigh as it stretched over his, her tail curling around his wrist.

“I should wash her tonight, but I’ll wait ‘til tomorrow,” Jyn said as she finished the spicy, sweet tea in her glass mug.

“You wash your cat?” he chuckled.

“You have to with these long hair cats.”

“And she lets you?”

“I washed her ever since she was a kitten, so she’s used to it. Then you gotta brush and blow dry her because she’ll never get the tangles out by herself,” she said, her head sinking on the couch cushion. She scratched Stardust under the chin. “I’m sorry, though, for being an ass to you in the elevator.”

He shrugged, his shoulder brushing against hers. “It’s all right. You weren’t being an ass, you just seemed surprised.”

“I was surprised. Shocked, really,” she said, finally looking at him. “Small world, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is.”

The way he looked at her with such open eyes, the twitch in the cheek he bit, the tight line between his lips, Jyn knew that there was more he wanted to say. Hell, there was so much more that Jyn wanted to say and do as well, but this friendship was still new, still fragile, so easy for her worst impulses to break. He may have helped her, he may like her cat, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to be more than neighbors.

“It’s getting late,” Jyn said, scooping Stardust in her arms and rising off the couch. “Thank you again for helping us.”

“Of course,” Cassian said quickly, rising with her. “I’m just glad it worked out.”

Jyn readjusted her arm to fit more snuggly around Stardust’s bottom, but the cat kicked her stomach with both back feet and launched into the air. Cassian caught Jyn as she stumbled back and yelped when Stardust ran between his legs. Suddenly Jyn was lying back on the couch, her legs twisted around Cassian’s as he braced himself on the back and arm of the couch so he didn’t completely crush her. His hip, however, pressed heavily against her, and his nose poked the tip of hers.

“Are you okay?” he panted, his face glowing redder by the second.

She only nodded, not trusting the first sounds to fly out of her mouth.

“I’m sorry,” he said as they slowly untangled from each other.

“It’s all right,” she finally said, missing his warmth even though he sat next to her. “I’m sorry about Stardust. I don’t know what got into her. She’s usually well behaved, but she hasn’t been making the best first impression.”

Stardust leapt up on the coffee table, just out of arm’s reach. Jyn scowled at her, so the cat closed her eyes and turned her head towards Cassian. He stared back at her with gentler eyes.

“Neither have I,” he said so softly that Jyn nearly missed it.

“What?”

“My first impression. First you meet me when I’m deathly sick, then when your cat gets trapped in my wall, and just now I fell on you.”

“That isn’t true. I didn’t even recognize you in the elevator until you coughed.” Jyn blushed. “Wait, that came out wrong.”

He smiled, but he held his hand out between their knees. “Can I re-do my first impression over dinner?”

Jyn’s breath caught in her throat, terrified that this was all too good to be real, that if she accepted it, then she’d fuck it up somehow--

But when his smile began to sink, she clasped his hand with hers without a second thought.

“Only if I can re-do mine.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Sorry this came out later than intended, partly because I got sick and partly because this ended up being longer than intended.
> 
> Also, if you think Stardust getting caught in the false column is far-fetched--this absolutely happened to my cat. She was 3 and we hadn't seen her for a night and morning (she was an outside cat), but when I walked home from school I heard a meow and followed it to my next-door neighbor's garage. When my dad came home he cut her out the same way, and Tiger literally just sauntered out like "well it's ABOUT time you got me out of there."
> 
>  
> 
> TinCanTelephone here- just thought you guys would enjoy this convo that happened in the google doc while Giddy was writing this lol 
> 
>  
> 
> SAY THE AWKWARD THING JYN  
> What was the awkward thing I forgot  
> looking  
> In the outline  
> I just think its funny  
> llllll(fuck something is stuck on my l key) lll  
> Buttt if you forgot and the convo doesn’t go in that direction anymore that’s fine haha  
> OH I see it now. I think I’ll end the chapter with that lol  
> *happy dances*  
> Okay back to looking at data aghghgh kill me please
> 
>  
> 
> XD you're welcome for that  
> ALSO- jsyk this is a _legit_ collab, check [this out](https://cats-and-metersticks.tumblr.com/post/180322411855/u-know-theres-a-connection-when-you-both-draw)


	7. Just Desserts

Jyn hadn’t been excited for a Saturday night in a  _ long _ time, nor this nervous. They weren’t able to hang out because Cassian was catching up on work he missed last week, but they did text a bit (mostly Jyn sending pictures of Stardust). Jyn also remembered to double check all the windows before she left her with the new toys to amuse herself with when she was gone. 

She met Cassian in the elevator only twice, and both times they stood together in the back in a comfortable silence. Bodhi noticed, of course, and lightly teased her until he got the details he was hungry for: Saturday, seven o’clock, dinner at Canto Bight, walk along the boardwalk, and then back home at a reasonable hour. 

“That sounds nice,” Bodhi said, though his face said something else as he focused on whatever was on his tablet.

Jyn sighed. “Just say it.”

“Sounds a little boring,” he said, still not looking at her.

“First dates are supposed to be boring. Besides, after dealing with Stardust being missing I could use a little boring right now.”

Bodhi nodded. “If it’s what makes you happy, then I’m happy.”

He must have meant it, because he didn’t tease her about it for the rest of the week. 

Jyn was tempted to buy a new dress, but decided to stick to her plan of the boring first date by laying out her two favorite dresses: a dark blue lace or an emerald green satin. She stared at them both on her bed when Stardust walked in.

“Mrow!”

“Which one should I wear?” she mumbled in the meat of her palm.

Stardust hopped up on the emerald and headbutted Jyn’s thigh.

“Good choice!” she said as she moved Stardust back down on the floor before picking up the dress. “Now where did I put that fur roller?”

Stardust tried to follow Jyn in the bathroom but was shut out. She meowed in protest while Jyn took her shower and dried her hair. Jyn ignored her while she styled her hair into elegant waves, but she smiled at the little white paw that stuck out from under the door. 

“I don’t know, do fake emeralds or fake diamonds look better with this?” Jyn asked as she held one of each pair in front of her makeup mirror at her desk.

“Mrow,” Stardust grunted from her desk chair.

“Your right, I think the fake emeralds look nicer.”

“Mreow,” Stardust huffed.

Stardust’s meows grew longer and louder as Jyn flitted about her house to make sure every window was closed. The cat nearly ripped her stockings by reaching out to her knees when she put on her black heels.

“Really, Stardust. I hadn’t forgotten,” Jyn said as she walked to the fridge. “I just wanted to wait until I was just about to leave.”

Jyn pulled out a plate of salmon: roasted, flaked, and molded into a cake. Stardust pranced around Jyn’s heels and cried for the dish until Jyn placed it down by her feet. The yowls were cut off by the soft lapping of the purring cat.

“Happy now?” Jyn asked, running a pair of manicured fingers up her back.

“Rrow,” Stardust replied, her mouth full of meat.

The cat didn’t react at all when there was a knock at the door. Padding herself down to make sure she had everything, Jyn took a breath to steady her nerves, went to the front door, and opened it.

Her breath rushed out of her at the sight of him in a charcoal gray suit and black tie, but she couldn’t breathe again under his intense gaze.

“You’re beautiful,” he said.

“Thanks, the cat picked it out,” she replied before she could stop herself, and her cheeks radiated with a flush of heat. So much for first impressions.

“She has excellent taste.”

Jyn looked him up and down again. “I’d say so."

He chuckled, and from her overhead light she saw a tinge of red on his cheeks, so they were on equal footing when they walked to his car. When they pulled out of the driveway, Jyn spotted Stardust watching them from the living room window, moonlight glinting in her blue and yellow eyes.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From thegiddyowl:   
> Okay so that is the end of the first arc! I probably won’t be updating this fic until winter break starts. D: (TinCanTelephone: NOOOOOOOOO) The next arc will be focused on them dating and will probably feel more like interconnected one shots like I originally had planned but threw it out for this serialized format instead lol. Thank you all sooooo much for your likes and comments and stories about your cats! Happy Thanksgiving!


	8. The First Date

Canto Bight was one of the more expensive restaurants on the pier that had a gorgeous view of the city skyline and the sea from their enclosed balcony, the kind with rose bouquets wrapped in bamboo leaves in their glass vases and sleek, white candles for each table centerpiece. As Jyn and Cassian devoured a feast of seared duck hors d'oeuvres, he asked the inevitable question.

“So how did you get Stardust?”

“Parents. They got her as a kitten put her in a Christmas stocking with a big red bow and everything when I came to visit. We never had pets growing up so to get her like that on Christmas...it’s one of those things that only happen in movies, you know?”  Jyn smiled at the memory, and how she couldn’t stop crying for five minutes because she was so adorable. “And you think it’ll never happen to you until it does. What about you? Did you ever have pets growing up?”

“We didn’t own any, but there were always stray cats hanging around. One I remember, he was fat and red, and he hung out in the backyard and cried out for food all the time. He was friendly, but I don’t know what happened to him after I moved out of Mexico. I was the only one who fed him.”

A sad silence fell between them until the tangy kale and brussels sprout salad and fresh pasta and crab (fished just that morning) was served. Jyn asked more about his home, and she learned that he moved to the States when he was fifteen to live with his aunt and uncle and pretty much worked the next twelve years to get to his current position as an in-house lawyer at the non-profit seven floors above her office.

“What about you? Where do you come from?” he asked.

“From a small town in England. I moved here when I was in my junior year of high school because of my parents’ work, and I tried to get back to school in England again but only the American schools accepted me, so I took it as a sign and stayed.”

“Do you still wish you could go back?”

“Do you?” she said, intending for it to be playful but it came out surprisingly sharp instead.

He didn’t flinch. “Sometimes I do. My nephews and nieces won’t be babies for very long, my parents and grandparents are getting older, and my friends are starting to have families of their own.”

He sipped his wine, his gaze falling on her fingers that curled just inches away from his. Jyn swallowed past the knot that grew in her throat as she thought of Saw, a family friend of theirs who watched Jyn since she was small and who she thought of as a grandfather. He was the only person from England she still talked to, apart from the occasional comment she left on her high school friends’ Facebook pages.

“But I can’t go back. I’ve just bought the house, I still have loans to pay, and I have a job that can cover that and send some back home. I can’t give up what I’ve made here,” he said softly.

Jyn drained the last of her white wine. “It’s not the same, going back. I went back a couple of years ago for holiday and while it was a lot of fun...it was different. I had changed too much, and I could feel it when I was hanging around my old friends. I didn’t belong there anymore.”

In truth, she didn’t feel like she belonged anywhere, really. Her parents’ house wasn’t home, nor was the house she rented specifically to feel more “at home.” There had been plans to get to the know the neighbors and host barbeques and Christmas parties, but as soon as she settled in she fell right back into her old habits of going straight to work and straight home, deviating only to get groceries or go shopping.

She couldn’t tell Cassian any of that, of course.

“Sorry,” Jyn mumbled as she stabbed a piece of crab.

“For what?”

“For bringing the conversation down.”

“No, it was my fault for asking such a personal question in the first place.”

“Well, you answered it beautifully,” Jyn murmured.

That brought a small smile to his face. “What you said was true, though. I visit my hometown every year, but I’ll always be an outsider as well because I also grew up in the States.”

“That’s got to be difficult, keeping one foot in each country.”

“Expensive, too,” he laughed. “But for me it’s worth it, so I’ll do it for as long as I can.”

Jyn lifted her empty wine glass, his laugh infectious. “Cheers to that.”

“Cheers.”

They finished off their dinner by sharing a piece of Death by Chocolate cake. The title was no exaggeration: they were served a six-layer brick of the fudgiest chocolate cake Jyn had laid eyes on.

“I’m about to burst out of this suit,” he said as he pierced the cake with his fork, candlelight dancing in his eyes.

 _Is that really so bad?_ Jyn thought as she plunged her fork into the cake, her prongs clanging against his.

“Can’t let good food go to waste,” she said as she scooped up another piece of cake.

He huffed a laugh as he scraped some of the rich chocolate ganache that prickled with miniature chocolate chips onto his fork. Jyn watched him lift it to his mouth, his tongue peeking out as he slipped the prongs between his lips. She rubbed her tongue against the warmed metal of her fork, smiling as she felt his eyes fall on her lips. If only they sat next to each other instead of across from each other, but then Jyn wouldn’t be able to appreciate the full view of Cassian in his suit.

She appreciated the suit even more when he gave her his jacket to protect her from the cold, salty wind that picked up over dinner. The silk lining felt as nice as it looked, buttery soft and warm, but the freezing wind still cut to the bone. They only strolled along the boardwalk for about ten minutes before retreating to the car.

“Well, at least dinner was good,” Jyn said as she mournfully shrugged out of his jacket. “Want to go to a movie?”

He smiled. “Sure. Which one?”

It turned out to be a horror movie about a possessed doll in a 1950s homestead, but as they watched it the weight of the wine and the food and the spicy scent of his cologne lulled her to sleep. She woke up just during a quiet scene, warm under the gray jacket he had draped over her while she slept on his shoulder. His cheek rested on the crown of her head, and judging by the slow rise and fall of his chest, he was sound asleep as well. Overtime had apparently caught up with him.

She closed her eyes and settled against his warmth, smiling as his breath tickled her scalp. It was far too early to declare anything definitive, but she enjoyed how well they fit together.

When the lights came on, Jyn woke up again and realized she had drooled a little on his sleeve.

“Oh my god, I’m sorry,” she said as she sat upright, her hair completely mussed.

Cassian snorted awake, then screwed his eyes shut again as he stretched.

“I dozed off too,” he yawned.

Jyn tucked her hair behind her ears to give her hands something to do. “Sorry, should have warned you that I have shit taste in movies.”

“At least dinner was good?” he asked, his fingers curling over the armrest.

“The best. You can pick the movie next time.”

Even though his smile was small, it lit up his whole face. He helped her up out of her seat but didn’t ask for his jacket back, which was fine, because Jyn wasn’t ready to let go of it just yet. She sank into it when she sat in his car on the drive back, probably wrinkling the hell out it. She could offer to iron it herself, but she’d probably make the wrinkling even worse or even scorch the silk, so she didn’t say anything as they walked to her front door with the lapels cinched across her chest.

“Well, here we are,” Jyn said. “Thank you for taking me.”

“Thank you for giving me a chance to make a… better impression.” He ducked his head down, but she caught a glimpse of his shy smile.

Jyn chuckled, then released her tight grip on his jacket when another cool gust came by. “You’ll be needing this back.”

He thanked her as he took the jacket back, his hands brushing against hers in the exchange. Jyn stepped closer to him, close enough to be trapped by his scent. He looked at her with wide eyes that observed every bump and curve of her face and she found herself doing the same.

God, he was beautiful.

She just wanted to grab him by the collar and not let him go until they were on her bed--no, the couch was closer--and then she’d rip his shirt open and unbuckle his belt with her teeth and--no, goddamnit no. She was going to go slow, she wasn’t going to have another explosive romance that fizzled out after two months, but he was _right there_ and she wasn’t ready to end this night--

“Can I kiss you?” he whispered.

Her internal war fell silent.

“Yes.”

He leaned down and kissed her gently, carefully, as if she were made of glass. It surprised her and she didn’t know how to react at first--she couldn’t remember the last time she had been kissed so tenderly, and she had never been asked before--but then her hand curled into a soft fist over his jacket as she kissed him back much softer than she expected she could do. Her heart fluttered in her throat. Her feet felt lighter than air. If he kept kissing her for another moment, then they would both drift away into the night.

So it was lucky that he pulled his lips away from her, his face rosy and his eyes glimmering with moonlight. His hand cupped her elbow and steadied her as her heart fell back to earth. She fell forward, her forehead leaning against his as she waited for the dizziness to pass.

Jyn kissed his cheek when she felt stable enough to stand on her own. “Text me when you get home?”

“I will. Good night, Jyn.”

“Good night, Cassian.”

She tore herself away from him and into her house, only to watch him drive away from her front window. Stardust walked along the windowsill and greeted her with a faint mew.

“Were you spying on us?”

“Mrr.” Stardust rubbed her face all over Jyn’s outstretched hand.

Jyn scooped her up and carried her to the couch. Stardust purred as she pooled over Jyn’s belly, her feathery tail dusting Jyn’s thighs. Jyn rubbed both cheeks with her thumbs until tiny droplets of drool leaked between her teeth, her eyes closed in bliss.

When her phone buzzed, Jyn stopped to check it and Stardust opened her eyes.

> _Cassian_
> 
> I’m home. Tonight was great, but how’s Stardust?

Stardust bumped her head against the hand that held her phone, so Jyn stroked her with her free hand.

> _Me_
> 
> She was spying on us
> 
> _Cassian_
> 
> I thought she trusted me

Jyn laughed until Stardust placed a paw on her lips, the tips of her claws poking her lips. Jyn rolled her eyes but put the phone down to give her impatient cat some more love first. She thought back to how well the date went, and how he willingly went out of his way to talk to the neighbors, to how he destroyed part of his house to save Stardust…

He just felt so different from all the other people she had dated before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New arc, new moodboard! Merry Christmas and IT'S WINTER BREAK WOO


	9. The Second Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIIIIIIIIVE

Despite how badly she wanted to walk to Cassian’s house on Sunday morning, Jyn restrained herself to a good morning message with a picture of Stardust lounging by her side, plus a simple thank you for the nice time she had. 

No  _It’s been 84 years since I felt this good about anybody_  nor a  _you actually seem to care about me and I don’t understand why_. She was going to take this slow, and she wasn’t going to come off as desperate, even though she desperately wanted to be with him again. She buried her face in her pillow and tried to relive that warm, sleepy moment last when she woke up on his shoulder in the movie theater--

“Mrow, mrow,” Stardust whined.

“Five more minutes,” Jyn sighed.

Stardust chuffed into her ear, the little puffs of breath tickling her skin, then started licking her hair. 

“All right, I’m up!” Jyn groaned as she pushed herself up on her hands. 

Stardust purred as she jumped off the bed and sauntered to the threshold. She looked back at Jyn, tail curling into a question mark as her eyes asked Jyn why she wasn’t out of bed yet to feed her.

* * *

Cassian stared out his kitchen window as if he could see through the four houses that blocked his view of Jyn’s. Now and then he remembered that he was holding a cooling mug of coffee, sipped it, then let his mind go back to the night before. It had been such a long time since he went out with anyone, years actually, since…

He took a sip of coffee and let the black bitterness sit in the well of his tongue. Had it really been nearly ten years since Lani? Hopefully she was doing well and found someone who could give her what she needed. 

It was his fault. He knew from dating Melshi in high school that relationships ate up a lot of time and energy, and decided that he wouldn’t date in college. He thought he could swing it, too, after moving to the States in the middle of high school, but he hadn’t expected the crushing isolation that came from moving away from the few friends and family he had in this new country.

When he met Lani in econ, he poured everything he had into her. He took her out to parties and restaurants and movies every weekend, and every night they stayed up late talking or playing video games or making out. She made him forget about how much he missed his friends and she erased the massive weight of his hopes and dreams and expectations.

Then the university informed him that he was on academic probation. Not only was his scholarship at risk, but if he didn’t bring his grades up the next semester, then he would be expelled. He actually broke down crying to Lani, and she promised to help. Between meeting with his advisor and regularly visiting office hours, he and Lani spent their free time in the library doing schoolwork. 

Well, she did her schoolwork, and his mind drifted off to appreciate a dark lock of hair that curled over her ear or how she mumbled to herself while she read. He could only focus and get his work done when he was alone in his dorm or in a hidden corner of the library. So he began studying by himself, but he had so much work to do there didn’t seem to be a moment of free time that he could give to Lani.

This wasn’t fair to her. This wasn’t fair to either of them. 

“We can’t keep doing this,” he had blurted out in the middle of the library.

She froze. “What do you mean?”

“We can’t be together anymore.”

“Why? We’ve been studying, like you want--”

He pulled his arm away from her. “I know but...but I can’t focus on you and school at the same time.”

She pinched her lips together tightly, red flushing her cheeks. 

“I’m so--” he started, but she cut him off.

“My grades took a dive too when I started dating you, but I’ve been able to get them back up. If I can do it, you can too.”

“I’m sorry but I can’t. I can’t focus when I’m around you.”

She snarled and slammed her laptop closed. “Don’t blame me because you can’t get your shit together.”

Her words seared him, because they were true. He wasn’t fucking good enough to focus on two things at once and do them justice. Never again. He wouldn’t try relationships again until he could give them the time and energy they deserved. He wouldn’t risk his heart and someone else’s otherwise.

So here he was, trying again with Jyn. Things were different now, of course. He had long finished with school and secured a job that gave him time on Sunday morning to stare out of his window and wonder what Jyn was doing. 

His phone pinged and he smiled at Jyn’s name. He opened the good morning text and huffed a laugh at Stardust lounging on the bedsheet with a sleepy, satisfied grin. His fingers hovered over the keyboard as he thought about inviting her to breakfast. He just couldn’t wait to see her face again, although he couldn’t very well send that over text. Maybe just a  _Hey you hungry_  or  _If you know a good cafe let’s get breakfast_.

> **_Me_ **
> 
> _Good morning!_
> 
> _Stardust looks happy_
> 
> **_Jyn_ **
> 
> _Yeah now that I fed her_
> 
> _I had fun last night_
> 
> **_Me_ **
> 
> _Me too_

His fingers hovered over the keyboard as he fought himself what to say next. Would going out to breakfast count as a date? Maybe they should just stick to texting, but would she think that he wasn’t all that interested? 

Jyn pinged again, and he put his thoughts on pause:

> **_Jyn_ **
> 
> _So how soon until we can go out again?_

Fuck.

**_Me_ **

 

> _Is breakfast soon enough?_

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck he didn’t mean to send that fuck why was he so desperate fuckfuckfuck 

> **_Jyn_ **
> 
> _Yeah! Give me 30 min and I can meet you at Kanata Coffee a block over_

Cassian stared at his phone in disbelief. She actually wanted to go, and he was going to meet her, and it was only a coffee date, and here he was making a big deal out of nothing. 

> **_Me_ **
> 
> _Sounds great_

After a quick change of clothes he went to the bathroom to clean himself up. There wasn’t time to trim his beard, but the stubble wasn’t terrible since he shaved before he took Jyn out last night, so he settled with a little beard oil and a quick comb through. He brushed his hair and it looked all right, but he needed to do something about that stray lock that fell over his right eye. Should he put on cologne, or would that be too much? He sniffed himself and he smelled...well, he smelled like himself, not fresh out of the shower but--he checked the time and decided to fuck the cologne, he was going to be late if he didn’t leave right now.

Cassian got out of the house with just enough time to walk to the cafe. He arrived first, so he snagged a table outside of the already crowded cafe. He texted Jyn where he was sitting, sank in his chair, and waited. Everytime the door opened the warm, yeasty scent of waffles perfumed the chilly morning air, as well as customers with to-go bags that glanced jealously at him and his empty table. Maybe he should’ve ordered something, but if he waited in line now, the table would be taken and Jyn would have nowhere to sit.

“Looks like all the tables are gone, kiddo,” a familiar, irritated voice grumbled.

A baby gurgled in response, and Cassian looked up to see Han, his son strapped to his chest.

“Hey, I remember you,” Han said, a smirked wired to his face. “Cassian, right?”

“Yes. Han and…Ben?” He nodded to the baby, who smiled just as wide as his father. 

“Yeah. It looks like you found the cat. Now she just gives us the stink eye through the window. Where did you find her, anyway?”

“Long story short, my garage.”

“So she wasn’t really lost at all?”

“She got herself stuck in a wall.”

Han quirked an eyebrow. “Oh-kay. Well Ben, now you know why we’re never getting a cat.”

“Who said anything about getting a cat?” A short woman with a dark crown of plaited hair stepped out of the cafe. She smiled at Ben and teased him with the number card attached to a thin metal wand, then turned her attention to Han. “And what happened to our table?”

“They’re all full, dear, as you can see.”

“Well maybe if you hadn’t stopped to talk to--what was your name?”

“Cassian.”

She gave him a polite smile and rounded on Han again, “Maybe if you hadn’t stopped to chew the fat with Cassian you would have found a table.”

“I’m sure if we wait a minute, something will open up.”

The baby snuffled as he flailed his chubby arms while his parents bickered about whether or not they should change their order to take out. Cassian checked his phone again, but Jyn hadn’t texted, and there was no sign of her. She was only two minutes late. It was ridiculous to give up his table when she could arrive at any moment. 

Ben’s toothless mouth opened and let out a crumbling whimper.

“You can take my table,” Cassian said.

Han and Leia’s jaws dropped, but Leia was the first to sputter, “No, no, you don’t have to do that.”

“Besides, you were here first,” Han added.

“Well, the person I’m waiting for isn’t here yet, and you already ordered your food.” Cassian was already on his feet and texting Jyn that he gave away their table. “Please, take it.”

It warmed him a little as they both thanked him, but that warmth evaporated as he walked back in and out of the little cafe. Han was right, the place was packed to the gills and the line was starting to grow out of the door. Maybe he could wait in line and by the time he ordered a table would open up, but what if Jyn still wasn’t there or decided not to come--

A handwave from down the street caught his attention and he let out a sigh of relief when he realized it was Jyn, smiling as she jogged up to meet him on the sidewalk.

“Sorry I’m so late,” she said, her cheeks pinched red from the exertion. “Couldn’t find my keys.”

“That’s all right, but how about we get inside?”

She pressed up against him when he held out his arm, his cheeks warming as he felt Han and Leia’s eyes on them as they entered the cafe. 

“Sorry about the table,” Cassian said as they stood in line, his stomach rumbling at the sight of a freshly baked sausage and cheddar sandwich.

“If I had a baby as cute as Han and Leia’s I’d use it to get tables too.”

Cassian laughed a little too hard at that. How did she read him that fast? But he was glad that she wasn’t upset, and even happier to find a new table just after they finished ordering. They sat across from each other on a table small enough for their hands to nearly touch and pressed up against the window. He tapped his fingers on the sill they waited for their food, and the longer neither spoke the harder it was for him to look up from fingers so close to her wrist. She looked out the window, her bobbing knee shaking the table.

He needed to say something, anything, to break the silence. He thought her about Stardust, but he always asked about Stardust, and he needed to show that he wanted to know more about her than her cat.

“I knew this was a bad idea,” Jyn groaned.

Cassian’s head snapped up. “What do you mean?”

“I didn’t mean to rush this but I did and now I’ve made everything weird--”

“No, it’s not you, it’s me,” he said, and immediately regretted it as her eyes widened. “I mean, It's been years since I've been with anyone because I was focused on school and my career and it’s…I’m sorry, I’m being awkward. I really like you and I was worried that I rushed you into coming to see me again so soon.”

“So you weren’t joking about breakfast?” she asked, her voice wavering. “I thought you were making a joke and I was being desperate by taking it seriously.”

“ _No_ , I thought I was being desperate by asking you out again so soon.”

“So...maybe we should agree on how fast or how slow we should take this,” Jyn said, then let out a breath. “I usually go too fast but I want to try it slow this time.”

He looked down at her hand, now covering his. His fingers twitched in surprise, but he turned his hand over and gently squeezed.  _Yes_ , he thought, his heart fluttering in his throat,  _this is something I can do._

“That works for me. Maybe go out once or twice a week?”

“Yeah, and I promise I won’t send you more than five pics of Stardust a day.”

“I won’t hold you to that.”

She laughed, and he breathed easier than he had all morning. He wanted to kiss her again, but opted to squeeze her hand instead. They were going to take this slow, after all. They chatted a little bit about up work before they were interrupted by their waiter with coffee and waffles. But it was a welcome interruption, and they switched the topic from Monday blues to whether pancakes or waffles were better, then to other hobbies like cooking and gardening (he had his work cut out for him in the backyard, but Jyn offered to help). 

The morning swiftly slipped by them, and soon they were walking back to their homes with very full bellies. Cassian kept his hands in the pockets of his worn, brown jacket to resist the urge to hold her hand as they walked. She kept her hands in her pockets too, but walked close enough that their arms bumped into each other. 

In a blink they were on Jyn’s doorstep again. With the sun out he could see that the powder blue paint on her front door was chipped, that a spider had started making its home under her porch, and that she had a smattering of pale freckles over her nose. 

“Thanks for walking me home,” she said.

“Of course,” he said, when a thought suddenly struck him. “When I...er...kissed you last night, was that moving too fast?”

“No! Was it too fast for you?”

“No, not at all.”

His fists tightened in his pockets as his nerves bundled up into a sparking, messy knot his chest. Last night he was so anxious about kissing her and what would happen afterwards that he barely remembered the kiss while it was happening. He remembered feeling ridiculously happy afterwards, when they rested their heads together and held each other steady.

“One kiss after a good date is pretty normal, I think,” Jyn offered.

Cassian dipped down and kissed her. It was a brief, gentle kiss that made her face flush pink (or maybe that was the nip in the air). She wobbled towards him when he broke away, almost like she wanted more, and he caught her by the elbow again. A flicker of movement from the window caught his eye, but when he leaned over but there was no sign of Stardust sitting on the windowsill. Jyn looked back and laughed.

“Stardust keeping a close eye on us?” Jyn asked.

“She’s probably sleeping on the job.”

That should have been his cue to leave her to the rest of her Sunday, but then she pushed herself up to kiss him again.

Maybe he could stay a minute more.

“Would you like to come in?” she panted, a lock of hair sticking to her mouth. “Just for a little bit, of course.”

“Yes, that sounds nice,” he said. 

She cupped his cheek and pulled him down for another kiss while she fished her keys out of her back pocket. He thought they would have a breather when she pulled out her keys, but to his surprise she tugged him along until her back was to the door. She struggled to fit the key in and he guided her hand so the door would unlock. The door swung open, slamming them together and making Jyn groan.

“You okay?” he asked.

She pulled him down by the collar and kissed him until he staggered backwards into the opposite wall.

“Remember--we’re--moving slow,” he said between breaths.

“Absolutely.”

Jyn slammed the door shut with a swift kick. He let her guide him towards the living room, where she tripped over the arm of her couch and they spilled over the cushions. He caught himself so he didn’t crush her, but  _God_  it was just like last time– his hip pressed against hers and their legs tangled together.  Cassian couldn’t resist -- he kissed down her throat, but the collar of her green sweater halted his descent.

“Cass,” she pleaded.

He returned to her lips and kissed her until he was light headed. She writhed under him, as impatient as he was. His hands snuck under her sweater and sprawled over her taut stomach. His fingertips just brushed the edge of her bra and he forced his hands back down to her hips, although it did nothing to dampen his excitement. He broke away from her mouth and listened to her breath hitch as he trailed down her throat again, determined to not let a few centimeters of wool stop him. 

He had the sweater halfway rolled  up her belly when he glanced over her shoulder and locked eyes with Stardust. Sitting next to the coffee table with her tail curled over her front paws, she watched them with her head tilted and a smug smile in her blue and yellow eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Jyn asked.

“The cat’s just staring at us,” he sputtered.

“It’s okay. She’s seen me naked, so she won’t judge.” She giggled at him and the baffled look he probably had on his face. 

Stardust meowed in agreement, rubbing her side against the length of the couch until she stopped to sniffed his shoe. She then launched herself onto the coffee table and settled down luxuriously, her tail curling and uncurling, as if she was waiting for the second act of the show to get started. 

Cassian burst out laughing into the sweater he’d wanted rip off with his teeth a moment ago. 

 “C’mon Stardust, you’re making him uncomfortable.”

“Mrow.”

Cassian only laughed harder. 

Jyn let out an exasperated sigh, but he could hear her grin when she whined, “It’s not that funny!”

“I can’t help it. I’ve never had an audience before.”

Jyn wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him while they laughed until they were wheezing. They untangled their legs and sat up on the couch. Stardust leapt into Jyn’s lap and nuzzled her.

“Is that why you interrupted us? For attention?” Jyn huffed as she petted the purring cat.

“Or maybe to tell me to slow down,” Cassian said. He was still feeling delightfully fuzzy and mussed, but his mind had cleared enough to realize that having sex on the couch may be moving a touch faster than they agreed to. 

“Well, I started it,” Jyn said.

“And I wanted to finish it. Maybe just… not this time.”

She hummed in agreement, resting her head on his shoulder. “What’s a good time for you, then?”

Cassian thought about it, struggling between wanting to sleep with her the next day and waiting until the timing was perfect.

“Let’s give it a month?”

He knew he’d gone too far when she bit her lip and her eyes went wide.

“We can do it sooner, or later, or--”

“No. I said that I wanted to take this slow, and I do. I do.” She stopped petting Stardust. “But maybe we can increase the kisses from one to two at the end of a date.”

“I was thinking three or four.” He chuckled, then kissed her.

“Maybe five or six?” She kissed him back.

“Seven’s a lucky number.” 

They lost count by the time Stardust stopped them by pawing at Cassian’s beard. 

* * *

They held out for twenty-one days. 

But really, who was counting?

Jyn had come over to help clear out the long dead bushes in his backyard and by the end of the afternoon they were sweaty and covered in sap. She suggested that they shower together, laughing like it was half a joke and half a wish. 

A couple hours later Jyn was dozing at his side, bare skin dewy from the shower and sex. His mind was fuzzy, drifting off in the afterglow, but he wanted to be present in this moment for as long as he could. Cassian didn’t have the words to describe what exactly he was feeling, only that he never wanted to forget it. He kissed her hair, wrapped his arms around her, and settled in for a satisfied sleep.

“Mew?”

Both of them jerked awake just as Stardust jumped up and landed between their feet. Her pink nose twitched as she sniffed the air.

 _How in the hell?!_  Cassian thought, then sputtered, “Augh, the cat door!”

He had installed it in his back door two weeks ago in case Stardust broke out of Jyn’s house again, but he hadn’t expected it to be used so soon.

“Fuck, I need to stop leaving the bathroom window open,” Jyn groaned, collapsing dramatically back on the pillows and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Stardust purred as she carefully stepped over their legs and wedged herself between them. Her purr rippled when she settled underneath Cassian’s arms and tucked her legs under her so she looked like a content loaf. She stared at them, her eyes drifting closed.

“Congrats, now the cat’s seen you naked too,” Jyn said, laughing.

Cassian tried and failed to choke down a laugh. Stardust’s eyes snapped open and she glared at him, then whipped her attention to Jyn, who shook with giggles. Eventually, Stardust closed her eyes again and tucked in her chin in an attempt to ignore them. 

But he could still kiss Jyn with ease, so he really couldn’t complain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to see their "first time", lemme know and I can write a one shot that's not rated T. ;)

**Author's Note:**

> TinCanTelephone here- just to say I did not do any of the actual _writing_ I just basically word-vomit ideas to Giddy and she writes some of them :)
> 
> Check us out on tumblr!   
> AstridMyrna (the real hero here), aka [thegiddyowl](https://thegiddyowl.tumblr.com/)  
> TinCanTelephone, aka [cats-and-metersticks](https://cats-and-metersticks.tumblr.com/)


End file.
